First Inter-Parliamentary Conference held in Paris

Background. Frédéric Passy, a French economist and politician, developed the Inter-parliamentary Conference with British MP William Randal Cremer. Passy sat in the Chamber of Deputies from 1881 to 1889. In 1887, they petitioned their parliaments for arbitration treaties. A 1888 meeting between MPs and Deputies led to the formation of the first Inter-parliamentary Conference in 1889, attended by prominent politicians.

Founding and Membership. The organization was established in 1889 as the Inter-Parliamentary Conference. Its founders, Passy and Cremer, sought to create the first permanent forum for political multilateral negotiations. At its founding on 30 June 1889, the Conference had eight members: Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Liberia, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Key Participants. Frédéric Passy served as president of the first Inter-parliamentary Conference. William Randal Cremer, a British Liberal MP and pacifist, was a leading advocate for international arbitration. Prominent politicians like Léon Bourgeois and Jean Jaures attended the conference, which Passy developed alongside Cremer.